Happy Memorial Day Folks. We dusted off the TI3 for some serious offshore testing today.

The holiday weekend conditions looked very promising, but developed into 20-30 knot winds and Small Craft Warnings. WTH, we thought - Kelly would go,.. This was probably the perfect time for a stress test!! So we headed out into what looked like friendly waters.

Not for long. Offshore the tradewind fetch was bumpy and tight. We plowed our way upwind and up-current, through the moguls. Close hauled, we headed quickly into deep water.

I was quickly persuaded to abandon the front seat for the dry comfort of the Hakas.

It was gusty enough that we had trouble with our wind indicators (ribbons) fouling on the battens and making it difficult to sheet and furl. Sail material threatened to rip so we headed to a beachhead to clear the snag. NEVER seen that on any of our boats before.

Capt Gary and I rode the Hakas all day, in every condition. We felt the boat handled much better than similar runs we had done in "TI mode" with the tramps.

I took some video. It would have been even better to see a stock TI tear it up out there with us, but there were no takers,..there were very few boats off Waikiki at all. I guess they got the memo.

As you can see, the 3rd Aka set features a terrific support strut/handrail that is a godsend on days like today.

The winds were 20+ knots most of the time and when stronger gusts rolled through, it white capped and got interesting and I put the camera away. We alternated between 1/2 and 3/4 sail.

I'm pleased to say that, even in the worse conditions, the TI3 stayed tight and balanced. We did not bury a Ama all day, even when the gales blew. But we stuffed the bow plenty times, up wind and down. Shifting fore and aft on the benches made noticeable improvements in trim.

At times, the cockpits were full of water, but out on the Hakas, even our feet were dry. (My cooler in the stern was FULL of water when we stopped for lunch!)

The downwind run was a hoot and probably 10x as fast covering the same distance to our home channel. There was not much long period swell to ride though, maybe 1 meter at times.

As we were doing 7-8 knots on the wave ride home, we picked up a hitchhiker.

We hope all his friends try to catch a ride on the TI3. There's plenty room on board.

The calm waters of Sand Island were the place to relax, even with though it was filled with jetskiers with their brains on holiday.

Overall, it was a good day to challenge the TI3 design and we are happy to report, it held together nicely. Even the crew.

It's hard to type. My hands are sore and raw from struggling to sheet all day, but those blisters were well earned. Hope your weekend sailing was memorable.

Aloha.

_________________"THE WIND IS YOUR FRIEND,.."

Last edited by NOHUHU on Mon May 28, 2012 4:27 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Sorry to rain on everyone's parade, but the party is over...I've been on the email with Hobie today and they say it can't be done:

Quote:

Adding akas/amas to the TI along with the ones that is has wouldn’t be something we would advise you doing –

The boat is perfect as is – not sure what benefit you would get from tying more together – don’t want you to make problems for yourself

Not sure why you would add another aka arm – the ones that are mounted use a internal structure deigned to handle the load – you can’t just add another crossbar to the boat – it isn’t that simple

I answered with reference to this thread and....

Quote:

That is really not a good idea – those guys are going to break their boat – and won’t have warranty when they do

There are inserts molded into the hull when it is built in the over – it isn’t a simple as drilling a hole, you will definitely fail something

Just use a boat as it is designed and it will work fine – go visit a dealer and try a demo – those internet forums are great for some stuff – but really horrible for others – we don’t edit them, and we don’t poopoo on people’s ideas – but that is not one that we think is good at all.

I wrote back "They're in Hawaii doing "Research and Destroy" just like Mr Alter years ago...

I would like more info on the extra 'supports' you guys did, and point to the detailed pics of the newly added rear bar?